The equipment grounding conductor for an electric sign or outline lighting system must be a wire type.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. It depends on installation
• D. Not specified

Answer: (B)

The equipment grounding conductor is there to provide a low-impedance path for fault currents back to ground. For signs and outline lighting, the NEC allows the grounding path to be provided by metal raceways or the sign’s frame itself, as long as that metal path is properly bonded, rather than requiring a separate wire conductors only. So, it’s not limited to a wire type; a metal conduit or other listed metal raceway can serve as the EGC if installed correctly. If a separate conductor is used, it must be sized and installed per NEC requirements, but the key point is that a wire-only grounding path is not mandatory.